1. Technical Field
This invention relates to compact, portable radio frequency receivers, and more particularly to a compact, portable FM stereo receiver incorporating a pair of earphone transducers coupled to independent electrical conductors, where the conductors are woundably disposed on a take-up spool within a compact housing when not in use.
2. Discussion
Portable stereo equipment is presently becoming ever popular. In particular, stereo equipment adapted to be easily carried by a person such as in a pants pocket, on a belt or waistband of pants or shorts is becoming particularly popular. Such equipment enables individuals to carry the equipment easily and comfortably while working or when performing exercise and leisure activities such as walking, jogging, bicycling, cross-country skiing, etc. Such equipment significantly enhances the enjoyment of many work, leisure and exercise activities and, due to the lightweight of such equipment, does not impede performance of these activities.
Presently available, compact, lightweight stereo receivers often incorporate some type of headphone or earphone apparatus which is coupled to an independent stereo receiver unit via independent left and right channel electrical conductors. The conductors often vary widely in length but are typically of a length of at least about 2 feet to enable the stereo receiver unit to be worn comfortably at the waistline of a user, while still providing enough slack in the left and right channel conductors when the attached headphones are being worn during exercise or leisure activities.
With such heretofore developed systems, no practical means has been devised for compactly and efficiently storing the electrical conductors which couple the stereo receiver unit and the headphone or earphones of the apparatus when the headphones or earphones of the apparatus are not being used. Accordingly, prior art apparatuses usually require the user to manually wind the left and right channel conductors around the stereo receiver unit, or around the headphones of the apparatus, or simply to wind the electrical conductors themselves into a compact form.
As constantly manually winding and manually unwinding the left and right channel conductors becomes, for many individuals, too cumbersome and inconvenient an operation to perform before and after each use of the apparatus, many individuals forego neatly winding up the left and right channel conductors after using the apparatus. This, however, makes the apparatus somewhat more inconvenient to transport and store when not in use. In addition, the left and right channel conductors and headphones or earphones can become tangled easily, and be damaged more easily.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide a compact, lightweight and portable stereo receiver apparatus which is particularly well adapted to be carried in the pocket or on the waistband of clothing of a users or possibly secured to a collar or headband via a conventional clip, and which includes independent left and right channel conductors which are automatically wound upon a spool of a housing of the apparatus and stored neatly and efficiently within the housing when the apparatus is not in use.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a compact, lightweight stereo receiver unit which includes an FM stereo receiver completely housed within a compact housing, and which also includes within the housing a spool for enabling a pair of left and right electrical channel conductors leading to independent earphone transducers to be neatly, efficiently and automatically wound thereupon when the apparatus is not in use.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a compact, lightweight earphone transducer apparatus which may be easily and conveniently carried in a pocket or on the waistband or shorts of a user, and which includes a pair of independent earphone transducers coupled to independent left and right channel conductors, where the channel conductors are automatically, neatly and efficiently wound upon a spool within a housing of the apparatus when the apparatus is not in use, and which further includes an electrical coupling jack for coupling the apparatus with an independent stereo receiver unit.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an earphone transducer apparatus which is compact, lightweight, and which includes a housing adapted to removably house a pair of earphone transducers and an electrical coupling jack when these items are not in use.